1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an audio signal processing apparatus or software and a service system for supplying an audio signal by wire or wirelessly, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for processing an audio signal to be streamed and a computer readable recording medium storing a computer program for the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Real-time multimedia streaming is required in wired or wireless portable devices, Internet-based Music On Demand (MOD) or Audio On Demand (AOD) services. In such an environment where streaming is required, when an amount of data of an audio signal to be transmitted from a server (not shown) to a terminal (not shown) is greater than the allowable bandwidth of a network (not shown) connected to the terminal, problems such as a packet delay or loss arise with a conventional audio signal processing method due to the buffering of a router and congestion.
In the conventional audio signal processing method, audio signals were processed in an environment where streaming is required not considering the conditions of the terminal, such as the capability or the type of the terminal. For example, regardless of whether the terminal is a personal computer (PC) or a personal digital assistant (PDA), audio signals were streamed at the same bitrate.
In other words, in the above-described conventional audio signal processing method, audio signals are streamed at the same bitrate regardless of both the bitrates of the audio signals and the types of terminals. As a result, the problems of a packet delay and loss or a delay in the processing speed of the terminal arise, lowering the sound quality of audio signals reproduced by the terminal.
Therefore, a method of providing an adaptive quality of a service is required for service quality enhancement.